Monday, July 15, 2013

The best (and easiest) homemade tomato sauce EVAH!

For years I have made tomato sauce the same way. I spent the greater part of a day blanching, peeling, seeding, chopping, and laboriously stirring over a hot pot so the sauce wouldn't scorch.

By the time it was time to eat, I was exhausted.

NEVER AGAIN!

Thanks to Pinterest, I've found the easiest and most flavorful sauce to use with my homegrown tomatoes that requires little effort at all!

First start with your tomatoes.

I used some of my homegrown sauce tomatoes combined with some gorgeous slicing tomatoes that my in-laws grew. You really can use any type of tomato, even little cherry varieties. Cut up enough tomatoes to almost fill a 9x13 baking dish or pan.

Add one large rough cut onion, about 10 cloves of garlic, and some torn basil leaves. Sprinkle generously with sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Mix thoroughly with your hands.

Place pan in a 425 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour.

What you will get is perfectly softened, caramelized goodness!

Plus, your house is going to smell amazing.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the tomato mixture to a food processor or blender.

Add one can of tomato paste and one tablespoon,

or more, of balsamic vinegar.

Pulse to desired consistency.

Add some of the juices from the baking dish if you'd like your sauce a little thinner.

Pour sauce into a crock pot and cook on low the rest of the day. The longer you let the sauce cook, the sweeter the tomato paste becomes. Season with additional salt, pepper, and herbs to taste.

Here I added one pound each of ground beef and sweet Italian sausage. I also added a generous pinch of oregano and chili flakes.

This came out amazing! I added one orange and yellow pepper to the roasting. Instead of ground beef, I used ground sirloin. Spices added were 1/8th of sugar, some oregano, italian seasoning, and plenty of sea salt and ground pepper. It came out really good and it was very easy. I also strained the juice from the pan after roasting, and I can use for a dipping sauce for bread. I'm going to add some tomato paste to the left over juices and make tomato soup.

This is so wonderful and low in sugar for people watching that! I froze it plain, then will add browned meats later! Can't wait to make another batch! I used the juice, left the skins and seeds, all puréed beautifully!

I'm making my second batch of this tomato sauce now; will make another batch tomorrow when I have more tomato paste. I dumped out liquid after coring each tomato--and it was quite a bit. I also added a rounded teaspoon of sugar along with the tomato paste and balsamic vinegar. Added fresh basil after the roasting, when I was pureeing--all skins, seeds, etc. Then into the crock pot for several hours. Can leave the top off if thickening is needed. Husband and I love the flavor.